MSIS student Rachael Murphy started an assistantship at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville’s Hodges Library in fall 2019, conducting a “kindness audit.” The audit takes an inventory of all the signage throughout the library to assess what kind of messages or ideas are being communicated to those who walk into the building. “We’re looking at, […]
When MSIS student Dylan Miller heard local LGBTQ+ nonprofit organization OUTMemphis speak at her library about LGBTQ+ inclusivity, it planted the seed of an idea: why not host a Pride event at the library? She wasn’t the only one who understood the importance of the organization’s message and had the same response – two other Benjamin […]
When Will Biggs left the United States Marine Corps after 10 years of service, he started a job hunt that proved to be a bit rougher than he had anticipated. “I was looking at county jobs and had probably applied to at least 15 positions, and nobody gave me a chance until the public libraries […]
Featured student: Clancy Anderson Location: Bristol, Tenn. Education: Training as a submarine nuclear reactor operator in the Navy, and an undergraduate degree in history from Eastern Connecticut State University Career: I grew up on a ranch in Central Montana, then I went to being on a submarine in the Navy, to being a librarian in […]
Erika Long (’16) was working with children in an after-school program, and as an academic mentor and tutor, when she realized she could do more for them. She wanted to provide children with lifelong skills that would make them successful academically and professionally, and she settled on the best way to do that: become a […]
Student Spotlight: Student Spotlight features one of our current School of Information Sciences Master students. Our students come from a variety of backgrounds, careers, locations, and academics, and we want to highlight who they are and why they chose the University of Tennessee, Knoxville SIS program.
Featured student: Sarah Gonzalez
Location: Knoxville, Tennessee
Current job: Sponsored programs coordinator at the University of Tennessee’s Office of Research and Engagement.
Past job(s): Has worked at UT for more than 15 years, in positions including: accounting specialist at the College of Social Work; assistant to the Vice Chancellor of Diversity; administrative services assistant at the Haslam College of Business.
Strong African-American women have been present for almost all of the pivotal moments in LaVerne Gray’s career–both professionally and academically.
These were the women she wrote about in her doctoral classes at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and for her dissertation, “In a Collective Voice: Uncovering the Black Feminist Information Community of Activist Mothers in Chicago Public Housing, 1955-1970.” But apart from the historical figures who inspired her research, Gray can also point to specific women who were integral in getting her to push past her own limits, and expand her knowledge and education.
SIS student Sharra Rosichan is the type of person who will teach herself something that she’s interested in – such as how to write code, design websites or read maps.
She was a voracious reader at a very young age – reading before talking, and consuming chapter books by the time she was four years old, she said. It was only natural that she would later end up working for a library system and getting her degree in information sciences.
Rosichan is the system-wide programming coordinator for the Nashville Public Library Foundation, and she oversees and creates a variety of events for the area the system serves. This includes art month in October, a celebration of diversity in April, African-American history month, Hispanic heritage, a citywide read, and more. She also does statistics, data entry and program scheduling.
Four SIS students were recently published in The International Journal of Information, Diversity, & Inclusion, all of whom wrote their papers as part of a classroom assignment under Professor Bharat Mehra, in his Diversity Leadership in Information Organizations class. Mehra, who is also the Emerging Voices Editor for the journal, said all four students had […]
Lecturer: Julie Ann Winkelstein Location: California, Bay Area near Berkeley (Albany, CA) Academic Background: Bachelor of Arts in Dramatic Arts from the University of California, Berkeley; Masters of Library and Information Science from San Jose State University; PhD in Information and Communication from University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Work Background: Before I entered the UTK doctoral […]
